Now that his horse, Jeb Bush, is out of the race, Reed will have to defend rightwing, authoritarian policies of Trump, Cruz and Rubio
Tom Reed’s horse to win the GOP presidential nomination, Jeb Bush, dropped out of the race after a string of brutal losses culminating in an embarrassing 4th place finish in the South Carolina primary.
Now, Reed is stuck choosing between backing the authoritarian policies of Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.
“Now that his horse, Jeb Bush, is out of the race, Tom Reed is stuck between endorsing the rightwing authoritarian policies of Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio,” said Bryan Lesswing at the DCCC. “Whether it is Trump’s anti-constitutional rhetoric, or Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio’s support for authoritarian policies, including a ban on all abortion with no exceptions – Tom Reed is going to have to spend the bulk of his time defending their rightwing agenda and authoritarian policies.”
Below is a rundown on how Trump, Cruz and Rubio’s authoritarian positions are putting Reed between a rock and a hard place for his own re-election:
Trump
It is common knowledge that Donald Trump’s anti-constitutional authoritarianism, including Trump’s ban on all Muslims entering the U.S., has created a nightmare political scenario for House Republicans down the ballot.
According to POLITICO, House GOP polling indicated that “a plurality of respondents — 48 percent to 40 percent — would be less likely to vote for a Republican congressional candidate or incumbent if Trump were the nominee.”
Reed himself has already echoed these worries, telling WGRZ News, “I am concerned about some of the rhetoric he’s [Trump] engaged in.”
Cruz
Ted Cruz is by far one of the most conservative ideologues to emerge as a potential frontrunner in modern presidential history.
And recent Republican polling shows that Cruz’s hardline conservative views – including governmental intervention in restricting women’s health – are not only out of step with the American public, but his potential nomination also casts a dark shadow over House Republicans down the ballot.
A leading Republican pollster recently concluded that “Cruz would have the biggest negative effect [on GOP house candidates], citing the Texas senator’s starkly ideological positions,” according to POLITICO.
Rubio
While Marco Rubio is being portrayed as the establishment alternative to Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, his conservative views are just as rightwing and authoritarian as Ted Cruz and Donald Trump’s.
Marco Rubio supports a government ban on abortion “irrespective of the circumstances,” even for survivors of rape and incest. The vast majority of Americans do not share this position: in an August 2015 Quinnipiac poll, 78% of respondents indicated that abortion should be legal in the case of rape and incest.
Anecdotally, these authoritarian views brought about the demise of Congressional candidates including Todd Akin, Richard Mourdock and Sharron Angle.